Stanhope volunteer fireman, 31, dies during drill

Members of Stanhope Hose Company No. 1 are in \u0022complete shock\u0022 after lifelong resident and volunteer fireman Edward J. Frenenski died Monday after collapsing during a training drill. IPHONE VIDEO BY WILLIAM WESHTOVEN OCT. 25, 2017
William Westhoven

The gear worn by Stanhope fire fighter Edward "Bear" Frenenski sits on a table, in front of a 9/11 memorial mural, at Stanhope Hose Co. No. 1 on Oct. 25, 2017, two days after he died.(Photo: William Westhoven)

STANHOPE — Members of Stanhope Hose Company No. 1 and the borough they serve are in "complete shock" after lifelong resident and volunteer fireman Edward J. Frenenski Jr. died Monday after collapsing during a training drill, according to Sussex County authorities.

Frenenski Jr., known to all as "Bear," was pronounced dead at Newton Medical Center approximately 2 1/2 hours after the incident, which took place at 8:21 p.m. at the Sussex County Fire Training Academy in Frankford.

Stanhope fire fighter Edward Frenenski died after collapsing during a training drill on Monday Oct. 23, 2017.(Photo: Courtesy of the Frenenski family)

"We were beyond stunned," said company Chaplin and fellow firefighter Hugh Matlack, speaking at the firehouse on Wednesday as calls and tributes were pouring in. "What happened to us was over-the-scale shock. He was only 31."

Sussex County Fire Marshal Virgil Rome said Frenenski was participating in vehicle-extrication training when he suffered an apparent seizure.

He was immediately treated by fire department and EMS members already on the scene for the training exercise, but went into cardiac arrest while being transported to the hospital.

Frenenski was given CPR en route and the hospital emergency-room staff continued life-saving measures, but were unable to revive him.

Matlack said at the time of the incident, they did not realize Frenenski's life was in danger.

"He had the very best of care, right there," Matlack said of the immediate response, which included a paramedic instructor taking part in the drill. "We had no reason to believe it would go beyond that. We were in total shock."

A 12-year member of the department, Frenenski was fully qualified and fit for duty, according to department Chief Mitchell Ellicott. He previously had been cited for participating in emergency efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

"He was a regular firefighter," Ellicott said. "He would do whatever you asked him to do."

The son of former chief and still-active department member Edward Frenenski Sr., young "Bear" caught the firefighting fever at an early age.

"He became a member in 2005, but he used to come down here with his dad as a young child, and as he got older, he expressed an interest to join the fire department," Ellicott said. "And he did."

Frenenski also earned his nickname at a very early age, Ellicott said.

"He was a big baby, 12 pounds and three weeks late," he said.

A graduate of Sussex County Technical School and a "jack of all trades," according to Ellicott, Frenenski was well-liked by his fellow firefighters, a passionate Yankee fan and one of several members who loved to play darts every Friday night in a common room at headquarters.

"He was a character," said Matlack, who rode with him twice on recent calls during the Yankee-Houston baseball playoff series, during which he predicted a comeback for his team that was not to be. "He was very vociferous in his Yankeehood. He felt strongly about things, and was OK with expressing them very directly."

Matlack said the approximately 35-member department held a meeting shortly after Frenenski's death.

"Just for members of the department, nobody else," he explained. "That's important to us, to be able to take care of ourselves. It's more than the thin red line. We're a company and we all need to be able to do things just on our own."

Like his fellow first responders, Frenenski's family members also were devastated by the tragic loss.

"They are taking it hard. Bear lived at home, so obviously they were a very tight family," Ellicott said. "They were always doing things together."

Frenenski was a parishioner of St. Michael’s Church in Netcong, and a Life Member of the Sussex Firefighter’s Association.

He is survived by his parents, Donna and Edward of Stanhope; his brother, Andrew of Austin, Texas; maternal grandparents, James and Isabelle Marchak of Georgetown, Texas; and two uncles, James Marchak of Hutto, Texas and Donald Catherine) Marchak of New Rochelle, N.Y.

Visiting hours will be held from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Morgan Funeral Home, 31 Main St., Netcong. A funeral service will follow at 3 p.m. at the funeral on Saturday. Services will conclude with a funeral procession to Stanhope Fire House, 26 Main St, Stanhope for “Last Call” honors.

In lieu of flowers, people are asked to make contributions in his name to the American Heart Association (www.heart.org) or Stanhope Hose Company No. 1.